I am reading through old reports on Pakistani prisoners at Guantanamo. During the early 2000s, a number of petitions were filed in high courts by the relatives of detainees, seeking to know their whereabouts. (This, for example, is from a hearing in a petition filed by Majid Khan's wife.) The petition reports do not have much information, but are useful in trying to understand how these cases were emerging at the time. (This is a petition in the Islamabad High Court by Ahmed Rabbani's family in 2014, hearings were still continuing by 2016)

In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Sindh High Court during a hearing in a petition filed about Ammar al Baluchi that five Pakistanis were being held at Guantanamo, while 68 Pakistanis had been released.

The ministry said the government had constantly been in touch with the US authorities at various levels to seek early repatriation of the detained Pakistani nationals and protect their rights and interests. Besides regular diplomatic contacts, the matter had been taken up at the highest level by the president and the prime minister.

The ministry said the government was making all-out efforts for the release of innocent Pakistanis and agitating their detention through the United Nations would adversely affect the bilateral approach, which had successfully worked so far.

The Government has been and remains engaged in efforts at the political and diplomatic levels to seek early repatriation of all Pakistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay as well as to ensure that the detainees are well looked after, are provided with necessary facilities including medical treatment and are not mistreated.

The matter is regularly taken up with the U.S. side both at the political and diplomatic levels.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Yousaf Raza Gillani, during his visit to the United States from 28-30 July 2008 conveyed to the U.S. side our concerns regarding delay in the return of the remaining Pakistani detainees at the Guantanamo Bay.

Our inter-Ministerial teams have undertaken 3 visits in August 2002, April 2004 and August 2006 in connection with efforts to secure the repatriation of Pakistani detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

During two consular visits to Guantanamo Bay in 2002 and 2006, our relevant officials also met Pakistani detainees.

As a result of these efforts, 67 detainees have so far been repatriated to Pakistan from the Guantanamo Bay.

According to the procedure devised by U.S. authorities, once a person is brought to Guantanamo Bay, a CSRT (Combatant Status Review Tribunal) is held to determine his status. If he is found to be an Enemy Combatant, he is detained in Guantanamo Bay.

The U.S. Department of State approves detainees for transfer or release based on a system of Administrative Review Boards (ARB) which assess each detainee’s threat level and intelligence value.

Our Embassy in Washington has maintained regular contact with the Office of War Crimes issues, Department of State for seeking repatriation of the six Pakistani detainees.

The Embassy has been told that all the six Pakistanis presently in Guantanamo Bay have gone through the CSRT process. None has been approved for transfer or release as yet.

The U.S. Department of State has further conveyed to the Embassy that it keeps the Government of Pakistan’s requests for repatriation of the remaining Pakistani nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay under review and shares the desire of the Government of Pakistan for the transfer of the detainees promptly and does not wish to hold any one longer than necessary.